•We hardly knew ye? Part one. "A source inside the Oregon football program" told The Oregonian Wednesday that — as expected — All-American tailback LaMichael James has decided to skip his senior season for April's NFL Draft. At 195 pounds, questions about James' size at the next level may drop him out of the first round. But he's not getting any bigger, and there are certainly no doubts about his production: He goes into the Rose Bowl with school records for rushing yards and touchdowns and as the career rushing leader among active players, all in just three years.

•We hardly knew ye? Part two. Another Pac-12 star who looks like he's on his way out: USC defensive end Nick Perry, a first-team all-conference pick who led the league in sacks and has now reportedly signed with an agent, according to Sports Illustrated draft analyst Tony Pauline. If Perry opted to return next year — not an option if he's already signed with an agent — he'd give the Trojans nine returning starters on defense opposite an offense scheduled to return ten, pending the decisions of the Big Two, left tackle Matt Kalil and quarterback Matt Barkley. [Orange County Register, @Tony Pauline]

•I was only joking… unless you're into it. To hear him tell it, Gus Malzahn had no intention of selling himself for the Arkansas State job last week when he called his old friend, ASU athletic director Dean Lee, to offer a little advice about the position. And Lee had no intention of selling Arkansas State to Malzahn. So how did Malzahn end up taking a pay cut to become Arkansas State's new head coach? It just… well, it just sort of happened. "Initially, I was planning on giving some feedback," Malzahn said Wednesday. "Then, I don't know, the conversation just went the other way. In a hurry." [ArkansasSports360.com]

•Flattery will get you everywhere. There's still no indication which way newly minted superstar Robert Griffin III is leaning re: staying for another year of ceaseless adulation at Baylor or moving on to the systematic humiliation of the NFL meat market. Three guesses which path Baylor fans advised him to take during Wednesday night's basketball game against Bethune-Cookman:

Griffin then proceeded to score 23 second half points against the Wildcats, punctuated by a 360 dunk at the end of a fast break, just because he likes goofing around like that. [BaylorAthletics]